A Devotional Commentary on the Prayers

Using the collects (opening prayers) for each Sunday and major feast day of the church year (including Christmas, Epiphany, and the days of Holy Week and Easter Week), the author offers a brief anecdotal meditation on the relationship of the prayer’s and season’s theme to the realities of life. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, he takes the reader on a journey through the church year as he reflects on the mystery and challenge of our human pilgrimage.

Richard H. Schmidt has served as a parish priest in four Episcopal dioceses. He retired recently after serving as editor and director of Forward Movement and is now a popular retreat and workshop leader. He is the author of five other books. He lives in Fairhope, Alabama.

“In this pastoral and intimate volume, Father Schmidt harvests for us the fruits of a lifetime of prayer. As he himself observes, it is how we Anglicans pray that defines us; and these small meditations are warm, cordial proofs of the grace that rests in that truism.” —Phyllis Tickle compiler, The Divine Hours